Positive Thinking

♥ Yoga – A Lifestyle –Part 1 ♥

International Yoga Day, which was declared by the United Nations General Assembly, was celebrated the world over on June 21st, 2015 with large gatherings participating. This is a special 3 part message on yoga –

All of us are constantly living a life of yoga, which in spiritual terms is called a link or connection between two entities i.e. the one which remembers and the other one which is remembered. Examples of what we have yoga with could be a person or God (called rajyoga) or your actions (called karma yoga) or spiritual knowledge (called gyan yoga) or bhakti (called bhakti yoga) or your breath (calledpranayama) or your physical body (called hath yoga) or even a physical object like a candle flame. So, yoga is life and should not be limited to sitting in a particular posture for a few minutes at a particular time of the day. Basically, remembering anything or anyone is yoga. The word yoga should not be limited to exercise which is a narrow definition of yoga. Focusing on one’s own body is extremely important, but only one aspect of a yogi lifestyle. A complete or comprehensive yogi lifestyle is focusing on pure and constructive sources right through the day including God, because yoga means union or link, a union which will benefit the soul and body positively.

We all live our lives in search of peace, love and happiness and also inner powers which we as spiritual beings are lacking in. So yoga i.e. our mental energy correctly channeled and connected with something positive provides us with that. People also call performing actions as yoga which is called karma yoga, but only performing selfless actions with complete dedication nowadays with the stresses and strains of everyday living can be depleting on a mental energy level unless the karma yoga as it is called is accompanied by a mental union or link with the Supreme while performing the actions, which helps us in remaining unaffected by the stress caused due to being over-busy in those actions. That in the true sense is karma yoga i.e. selfless karmas performed in the remembrance of God. This link between me, the spiritual child and God, the spiritual parent, nourishes me continuously and gives me the strength to perform actions with complete accuracy and get the desired success filled result.

ð Message ð

To receive respect from others comes more with responsibility than as a right.

Expression: The one who gets respect is the one who becomes worthy of it rather than the one who just expects it. True respect comes from how well a task is done rather than what is done. The more one’s speciality is expressed, the more one becomes worthy of respect.

Experience: When I go on giving my best in whatever is expected of me, I will start receiving respect from those around me. I will then never expect from others but will naturally be able to give respect to all. This further makes me earn their love and regard.

♥ Yoga – A Lifestyle –Part 2 ♥

All of us are living beings with a mind and an intellect, which we use to connect to various objects, people and events throughout the day. This is called our mental energy. This mental energy travels extremely fast and can reach another person in much less than a second. Very often we focus our mental energy on the physical body for mental peace and physical fitness through the medium of yog asanas or yogic postures to attain the desired purpose. That for us is a way of letting go of our stresses and negative energies stored in the body. It makes our mind and body healthy. We also focus our mental energies on our breath through the medium of pranayama whereby flawless and smooth breathing is experienced which benefits our physical body immensely and also gives us mental energy.

If you are new at the Brahma Kumaris, and if you are practicing yog asanas and pranayama for their physical and emotional health benefits, from before, you don’t need to stop them. This is because both these are extremely important mediums for this purpose and widely acclaimed and proven successful techniques which have saved many people from the most serious of illnesses and also reduced the intensity of many illnesses. There are lakhs of people all over the world who share their experiences confirming this. But the Brahma Kumaris add another dimension to this physical side of yoga – a spiritual yoga i.e. connecting the mind and intellect to the supreme source of spiritual energy or God, which is also called yoga or connection with a non-physical pure entity – God. So those who have been practicing yog asanas and pranayama, if they desire, can continue to do the same but add the spiritual yoga in their lifestyles. Those who have not been practicing yog asanas and pranayama concentrate only on the spiritual yoga, which not only purifies the soul but also has immense benefits for the physical systems of the body and helps in purifying them. This is because a pure mind means a mind full of the seven qualities of peace, joy, love, bliss, purity, power and knowledge, which in turn influences the main systems of the body and makes them free of illnesses.

ð Message ð

To have a powerful intellect is to take the positive and leave out waste.

Expression: I need to make my intellect powerful like a swan (it only takes jewels and leaves out the pebbles). I need to recognize and accept what is good for me and reject what is not good for me. With practice I find that it becomes a habit to see only that which is good for me. This will make me positive in all my future interactions too.

Experience: Today I will make a conscious effort to find some aspect of my life that is positive. This I need to remember consciously and remind myself from time to time so that I can carry it through the day. This will ensure a touch of positivity to all I do.

♥ Yoga – A Lifestyle –Part 3 ♥

The mechanism of how the mind affects the different body systems. The practice of spiritual yoga or connecting the mind with a higher source of spiritual power i.e. God, causes His spiritual energy to enter our mind and fill our minds with the seven primary qualities – peace, joy, love, bliss, purity, power and knowledge. These qualities nourish all our body systems and make them free of illnesses. Each time we experience an impure or negative emotion, its negative effect travels to all these systems and this causes the birth of illnesses in these systems. Spiritual yoga, which at the Brahma Kumaris is called Rajyoga meditation and is karma yoga, because it can be done while performing any action, does the opposite. Because Rajyoga is a yoga with the Highest power existing in the universe, it is given that name. This Highest power is God and He is the Highest because He is an overflowing source of all these seven qualities mentioned above. So a link with such a source gives us an experience of these qualities and as a result these qualities flow to each cell of all the systems of the body and causes these cells to heal and become full of pure spiritual and as a result physical energy. Also, each one of us has a target organ or system which is most prone to disease. What this organ or system is for each one is connected with the karmas of the soul performed in this and previous births, which reflect in the systems of the body. Rajyoga meditation, as taught by the Brahma Kumaris, because of the mechanism explained above, helps in keeping this target organ healthy and also brings with it mental peace and a stress life.

Lastly, as you follow the path of spiritual yoga, take care that physical health issues are also addressed since a healthy body finds it easier to meditate correctly and also perform actions in the remembrance of the Supreme Being with comfort. On one side the meditation helps in clearing up the negative sanskaras of the soul which are created in the soul when a negative action is performed either in this or previous births, and are the primary cause of all our illnesses. At the same time, on the other side care should also be taken of the physical body through the mediums of a right diet, exercise and sleep, so that the spiritual journey is smooth and obstacle free; a journey on which we welcome all of you.

ð Message ð

To make effort and get the fruit is to ensure real progress.

Thought to ponder: Sometimes, things come easy and sometimes they don’t. When we put in a lot of effort and then get the result of it, there is double benefit. One is of course the result as a positive outcome and the satisfaction is much more because I have earned it. The other is the many trials that I had to make would let me gain many experiences and I end up getting richer with these experiences.

Point to practice: Today I will take up something I had started with enthusiasm or wanted to start. I will give my thought, time and energy to it and make sure that I make it happen. I will take a thought today not to leave it mid way but see it through till I succeed.

The thoughts that we create are of different nature, different intensity and their quantity also varies from time to time during a particular day as well as night and also depending on what action we are performing at that particular moment of time or not performing any action at all. They possess immense potential or power, both positive and negative. They can either liberate (or empower) us or limit (weaken) us. This depends on what we think and how much we think.

The mind tends to jump from one place to another. Many of our thoughts filled with doubts, dejection, fears, insecurity, irritation, worry, comparisons which give rise to emotions like jealousy or inferiority / superiority complexes, desires, un-enthusiasm, etc. are useless thoughts and weaken us. They defocus us and cloud our inner clarity. Sometimes we keep repeating certain type of thoughts inside our mind, we keep going round in circles. Most of the time, these repetitive thoughts are negative or waste in nature related to the emotions mentioned above. Sometimes the repetitive thoughts can be necessary or positive also. Even necessary and positive thoughts, when repeated again and again, turn into the superfluous (excess) or waste. So it’s important to think in a higher, concentrated way – think less and think powerful; such thoughts have a lot of clarity, focus and spiritual force that help us to put them into practice more successfully. A single thought or a series of thoughts can block the capacity to feel content and awakened spiritually and make us sorrowful. On the other hand, a single thought or a series of positive thoughts can be the key to open the door that allows us to access, enjoy and experience the richness of our inner self. But it has to be a pure, strong, clear and concentrated thought or thoughts.

♦ Message ♦

Success comes through maintaining self-respect.

Expression: Where there is self-respect, there is naturally a stable state of mind, even in the most challenging and difficult times. This in turn brings right judgement at all times, which allows discrimination between right and wrong. Right judgement leads to right actions. So there is constant success for such a person.

Experience: Self-respect is the state of mind where I am able to appreciate my own uniqueness and give regard to myself. When I am able to be in my stage of self-respect, I am able to be stable in all situations. This seat of internal stability keeps me light and easy under all circumstances. I am also able to experience constant success even in the most difficult and challenging times.

One important component that doesn’t let us remain in the healthy and positive experience of concentrated thought is the many different types of influences we are exposed to in our life. There are two different types of influences – external and internal. These influences can also be called voices. Voices from outside as well as inside speak to us.

External influences or voices are of people whom we come in contact with at home, at the workplace, at school or college, at the club, in the media etc. or elsewhere. These people are those whom we either see as equals or look upto. They could be our friends, our parents, our spouse, our teacher, our guru, our doctor, our neighbor, our colleagues, our boss, actors or sportsmen whom we admire, even the daily newsreaders or writers, etc. We have been exposed to these influences right from the time we were born. The influences from all these people are not necessarily on a physical level, they can also be on a subtle level of mental vibrations from others. We interact with all or some of these people and spend time with them and whenever we do that they advise us or give us their opinion on a physical level and we also listen to their voices on a subtle, emotional energy level e.g. we spend a lot many hours in the office. We may not interact with our boss all the time but his personality is constantly influencing everyone in the office on a subtle level, including us. The office environment is shaped largely by the head of the office. In the same way, we may be taking care that we listen only to the positive voices of the media and we do not listen to the negative ones, but the all pervading negative atmosphere that exists everywhere due to everyone being exposed to the news of violence, sorrow and impurity from the media, definitely influences us on a subtle level, even though we might not realize it. As children, we have been listening to the subtle voices of our parents, even when we were taking shape in our mother’s womb.

♦ Message ♦

The power of cooperation enables the most difficult task to be successfully done.

Expression: To have the power of cooperation means to have the ability to see and use the specialities of others in any task that is to be done. It is the ability to respect and use the suggestions and ideas of each and everyone which contributes for the success of the task. So the one who is able to use this power is able to be successful in any task that he takes up.

Experience: When I am able to give cooperation and take cooperation from those around me, I never experience fear for any task that has to be done, but am able to be at ease, knowing that everything is possible. I am also able to earn the respect of those around me for having made the best use of their specialities, which further facilitates the success of the task.

Some of the internal influences or voices include the influence or voice of:

selfish or impure desires of name, fame, revenge, greed, remaining in control of a situation or a person or dominating a situation or a person;
the ego;
the past;
our inner conscience;
pure desires;
the Supreme Being or God;
our worries of the present or of the future;
temporary negative sanskars or personality traits;
original or inherent positive sanskars or personality traits;
attachments to people, situations, material objects, etc.;
jealousy or dislike for a particular person, etc.

We are exposed to some or all these influences, whether external or internal, all the time. If we are not strong, our mind weakens under so many influences, which as a result, becomes unclear, confused and unfocused. Because of all of this, on the one hand, we need to have good judgment power to remain connected to what is essential, important and true, and on the other hand, you have to strengthen your thought, that is, think less; think more slowly; more concentrated and clearly with focus, a sense of purpose and positivity. That thought is like an arrow; it has positive force and clarity and it always bears powerful fruit. This kind of thought is called concentrated thought. The practice of introversion or meditation for a minute or few minutes at regular intervals during the day helps us remain above all influences and constantly feeds our mind with the power of silence, which helps us remain in this experience of concentrated thought easily.

♦ Message ♦

Introspection enables one to be free from the influence of negativity.

Expression: Introspection means the desire to be good. Introspection brings the ability to look within and see the true self in the mirror of the heart, thus enabling one to activate the inner spirituality. Then all effort made will be towards activating this inherent goodness. And slowly one finds that the behaviour associated with negative traits are no more expressed, as they begin to lose their hold.

Experience: When I am able to introspect and look within, I can find the goodness that is there within me. Because of this, I naturally am free from expectations from others that they should recognise my goodness or consider me good. Instead I find myself content with what I am and continue to bring out the best from within me. I also continue to learn from all situations and experience progress.

Observing My Mind And Its Creation

Let us experience creating positive thoughts about ourselves and see how long we can maintain them. We must learn to become our own best friend. A positive thought is imagining oneself as a being of peace. Peace is considered as the power and original quality of human beings.

In order to be able to concentrate, let’s imagine a point of light, a small star like point of energy in the centre of the forehead… Let’s focus our attention on this point and begin to create these thoughts: Who am I? Who am I really?

I turn towards my inner self in order to know myself… I am going to observe the screen of my mind for a few moments…

I become aware of the thoughts and images I see on the screen of my mind, but I do not let myself be influenced by them… I simply observe them, and I am gradually going to let them flow… I let go of them, I let them drift away…

I create a space between me and my thoughts, between me and my stream of feelings… I feel at peace and calm, I can choose what I think… The feeling of being able to choose makes me feel stronger…

I am strong, peaceful and calm… I am positive energy… I am a peaceful, calm being: peace is harmony and balance…

– Message –

Lightness comes when words are accurate.

Expression: Accurate words means there is nothing extra spoken. Whatever has to be said is said to the point. Such words being short are sweet to hear too and are those that never hurt others. They bring about the result needed accurately.

Experience: When my words are to the point, there is a lot of lightness experienced within me and my physical energy is saved too. Others too experience benefit through my words and so I naturally get blessings from them, which helps me move forward with lightness.

Kmsraj51 की कलम से…..

Positive Thinking

Given below are some examples of simple positive affirmations (thoughts) that you can make about oneself, others, real life situations and the future, which will help you in becoming a positive thinker.

The self: I do like myself; I accept my weaknesses; I understand myself; I have special skills and qualities; I value myself; I believe in myself; I am lovable.Others: I accept others as they are; I look for the best in others; there is something good in everyone I meet; I appreciate others.A real life situation: I am capable of handling the situation; I have all I need; I am fortunate; there is a bright side to everything; nothing lasts forever.The future: I look forward to each day; every difficult situation is an opportunity/challenge in disguise; each day brings something new and beautiful, something to learn.

– Message –

To listen to others fully is to be able to be free from repeating mistakes.

Expression: When there is criticism that comes one’s way, it should be carefully analysed to see if there is any truth in it. If there is correction can be made accordingly. On the other hand, if others’ criticism is ignored or there is a tendency to defend oneself, there cannot be any correction and mistakes are repeated.

Experience: When I listen to others with honesty, I am able to discover even the most negligible aspect in my behaviour which I can change. So I find myself constantly improving and progressing and moving on towards success. So having brought about a change, even the criticism that comes my way stops.